26-7, 16-13 . . . Mets Turning Into Real High Rollers

The New York Mets have cornered the market on high-scoring games this season. They were trounced 26-7 by the Phillies last month, then beat the Braves 16-13 Thursday night in Atlanta.

The high score wasn`t the only unusual thing about Thursday night`s contest. The game, interrupted by rain delays, lasted 19 innings and ended at 4 a.m., a major-league record. The latest game before Thursday ended at 3:23 a.m. on Aug. 10, 1977, when the Phillies beat the Expos 6-1.

In the eighth inning Thursday, Dale Murphy gave the Braves an 8-7 lead with a bases-loaded double. Then Bruce Sutter took the mound for the Braves and lost the lead for the fifth time in his last 11 outings. The Mets tied it at 8-8.

``I saw things tonight that I have never seen before,`` said Mets` first baseman Keith Hernandez, who hit for the cycle.

In the 18th, the Mets took an 11-10 lead. Braves` pitcher Rick Camp, a notoriously bad hitter who was batting only because the Braves had run out of players, came up with nobody on, two outs and Tom Gorman pitching. With an 0-2 count, Camp hit his first major-league homer to tie the game. It was only his 11th hit in 167 at-bats.

``I don`t know what I was doing on that 0-2 pitch,`` Gorman said. ``I`ve never pitched at 3 a.m. before.``

The Mets scored five runs off Camp in the 19th inning to take a 16-11 lead. The Braves came up in the bottom of the 19th, scored two runs and brought the tying run to the plate with two outs. The hitter was Camp. This time, the Mets` pitcher was Ron Darling, who struck him out.

After the 6-hour-10-minute game, officials at Fulton County Stadium went ahead with their planned 4th of July fireworks display.

-- The son of the late Ty Cobb says an asterisk should be placed next to Pete Rose`s name if he breaks his father`s record for career hits.